There are several known techniques for attempting to reduce or eliminate the skin disorders associated with sebaceous oil glands. The primary disorder is acne with an associated disorder of acne scarring, oil production, and pore size. A few of these known techniques are scientifically proven and widely accepted as effective. However, their degree of efficacy varies greatly. There are several processes which may be used for treatment of sebaceous oil glands, acne bacteria (e.g., proprionobacteria acnes), disorders such as narrowing of the oil gland duct, increased or excessive oil production, pore size, acne rosacea, and pore size. In one process the target may be duct of the gland or the oil gland itself and the treatment focuses on the treatment of sebaceous follicles to eliminate the associated disorders. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,183,773, to Anderson, which is hereby incorporated by reference, an attempt is made to treat sebaceous gland disorders using lasers which irradiate energy activatable material, primarily laser sensitive dyes, that have been applied to the skin.
Anderson teaches a method for treating skin disorders associated with sebaceous follicles by topically applying an energy activatable material to a section of skin afflicted with a sebaceous gland disorder, wherein the material is activated by energy which penetrates outer layers of epidermis. A sufficient amount of the material infiltrates the afflicted section of skin and is exposed to sufficient energy to cause the material to become photochemically or photothermally activated, thereby treating the sebaceous gland disorder. In one embodiment, the sebaceous gland disorder is acne. Suitable energy sources for use in accordance with Anderson's invention include flash lamp based sources and lasers, such as Nd:YAG, Alexandrite, flash lamp-pumped dyes and diodes. The energy source can be a continuous wave energy source or pulsed. In the preferred embodiment, the energy activatable material is a laser sensitive chromophore, e.g., a chromophore which is capable of being photoactived by a laser, e.g., a dye. Anderson describes a particularly preferred embodiment, wherein the chromophore is methylene blue.
Anderson's method, however, fails to take advantage of the recent developments in light emitting diode technology that permits the use of LEDs for dermatological use in place of much more expensive lasers. Further, due to the high-intensity nature of lasers, severe skin damage or other injury can occur when the light source is improperly operated. Further, the laser dyes and other topical compositions described by Anderson are expensive and require FDA approval for their intended use, making the invention expensive and time consuming to implement. Further, because of Anderson's focus on the oil gland itself, rather than the elimination of the acne bacteria, suitable results may not be achieved in all cases.
In WO 00/02491, to Harth et al., a method and apparatus are disclosed for eliminating acne bacteria through photothermal means by exposing the bacteria to a narrow band light source in the range of 405 nm to 440 nm. Harth et al., as well, failed to appreciate the opportunity for current LED technology to be applied to dermatologic treatment and, like Anderson, do not disclose means for treating sebaceous oil gland disorders without the high cost and time commitment necessary to receive FDA approval require for high-intensity light therapies with topical compositions such as methylene blue.
In each of the known attempts to treat sebaceous gland disorders, extensive investment in expensive light sources and topical drug composition testing is required. Moreover, none of these attempts addresses the secondary disorder associated with acne—acne scarring.
Consequently, it would be desirable to have a treatment for sebaceous gland disorders and, in particular, acne that addresses and treats acne scarring without the need for expensive, potentially dangerous high-intensity light sources. Further, it would be beneficial for such a treatment regiment to include the use of naturally occurring compositions that fall into the category of cosmetics and cosmeceuticals that are generally recognized as safe and that do not require FDA approval, thereby eliminating the time and resource expenditures associated with the commercial implementation of such a treatment regime.